JobKeeper has been extended from 28 September 2020 until 28 March 2021, and the date for assessing employee eligibility for JobKeeper has changed from 1 March 2020 to 1 July 2020.

• • The JobKeeper extension will be broken into two different periods (referred to as Extension 1 and Extension 2), each with different decline in GST turnover tests and minimum fortnightly JobKeeper Payments; and
  • There will be two different tiers of JobKeeper payments (referred to Tier 1 and Tier 2), depending on whether or not the eligible employee worked 80 hours or more in the four weeks of pay periods before either 1 March 2020 or 1 July 2020.

This handy ATO infographic summarises the key changes, and more detailed information is available at ato.gov.au/jobkeeper.

What do the JobKeeper changes mean for employers?

The ATO says that you must do all of the following from 28 September 2020:

• • work out if the Tier 1 or Tier 2 rate applies to each of your eligible employees;
  • notify the Commissioner and your eligible employees what payment rate applies to them; and
  • during JobKeeper Extension 1, ensure your eligible employees are paid at least:
    • $1,200 per fortnight for Tier 1 employees
    • $750 per fortnight for Tier 2 employees
  • during JobKeeper Extension 2, ensure your eligible employees are paid at least
    • $1,000 per fortnight for Tier 1 employees
    • $650 per fortnight for Tier 2 employees.

What do the JobKeeper changes mean for MYOB Advanced payroll and finance users?

In terms of your system requirements, you will need to:

• • Generate the relevant payroll and GST Turnover reports.

In MYOB Advanced People, you can export the data from any screen to Microsoft Excel with the click of a button, so any authorised user has the flexibility to filter their data and make calculations and forecasts as required, without the need to involve consultants or developers.

• • Re-calculate the top-up payments required for your eligible employees based on whether they are a Tier 1 or Tier 1 employee.

• • If an employee cases to be eligible, then process a JobKeeper finish allowance (the 1 cent ‘Other Allowance’ you created with the Finish Code description corresponding to the last fortnight in the employee participated in the JobKeeper scheme – see below).

In our Customer Portal, you will find tips on generating reports for JobKeeper purposes, step-by-step guides on how to process JobKeeper start and finish ‘Other Allowances’ and JobKeeper top-up payments using MYOB Advanced Exo Employer Services and MYOB Advanced People. Note that the ATO website also suggests leaving up to three days for your changes to be processed by the ATO before making your monthly business declaration in the Business Portal.

What are the JobKeeper ‘Other Allowance’ Descriptions?
For ease of reference, here are the JobKeeper Start and Finish Codes descriptions for each JobKeeper Fortnight up to 27 September 2020.  Refer to the MYOB Whitepapers for more detailed instructions on how the descriptions are to be used.

Source: ATO Website

Disclaimer

BusinessHub Pty Ltd provides support in relation to MYOB Advanced and MYOB Exo Employer Services, but we do not provide (and should not be relied on for) legal or accounting advice, so we recommend that you contact your professional advisor for this type of assistance.